No start problem with Trac-Vac

[stevej37]

Almost all the leaves are down now..time to clean them up.

Towed the Trac-Vac out to start it. It's 40 years old and the B&S 5hp engine has always started easily. (even though it needs a good strong pull to turn it over)

Pulled and pulled....no start.
Put fresh gas in....pulled and pulled.
New spark plug....pulled and pulled.
Sprayed starting fluid....pulled and pulled. It would start and run for about 3 seconds and then stop. (just enough to burn the starting fluid)

After about an hour of this and thoroughly tired from pulling the recoil, I was just about to put it back in the garage and give up, when I noticed a break in the grease covered intake bolt that fastens the intake to the head.

The break was from the bolt loosening up. (it was allowing air to be pulled in)
I tightened it down and the CS started on the first pull.

The Trac-Vac saves me a ton of raking...with over an acre and several fully mature trees.

[cjh]

Start with fuel, air & spark.
Is it getting any fuel since it starts and quits on ether?
Does removing the air cleaner help?
Finally, remove the plug, ground the spark plug wire and see if you have a big fat spark!

I have a high speed stumble on my leaf blower this weekend and have traced it to the filter in the bottom of the tank getting plugged. Time to clean the tank, new lines and filter before next year.

[greglepore]

Yeah, I have one with a 9hp Briggs and I love it. Carbs suck with modern fuel, but they're on Amazon for cheap. I've found that if you pull the bolt holding the float bowl on when done for the season and really drain it that works wonders. My small engine guy swears by a few ounces of seafoam in the fuel and no drain.

[stevej37]

It runs like a champ now that I found and tightened the loose bolt. It's something that I would have never thought to check because I've never heard of them loosening on their own.

The only thing I can think of that might have caused it is...I was using it a few days back and a falling leaf landed on the spark plug while it was running wide open. It shorted out the plug and it back-fired a few times before I could get the leaf off. Wondering if the back-fires caused the bolt to loosen up?

[Scott Douglas]

Don't feel bad Steve, I have an edger that does the same thing. Intake comes loose and it won't run very well if at all. Hanging the gas tank off those bolts too didn't help them stay tight.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by stevej37

It runs like a champ now that I found and tightened the loose bolt. It's something that I would have never thought to check because I've never heard of them loosening on their own.

The only thing I can think of that might have caused it is...I was using it a few days back and a falling leaf landed on the spark plug while it was running wide open. It shorted out the plug and it back-fired a few times before I could get the leaf off. Wondering if the back-fires caused the bolt to loosen up?

Many years ago my brother came home from work as the neighbor was trying to start a riding lawn mower. Lots of profanity, and no start. My brother walked over and the neighbor said do you want a free %$#@**^%^ lawn mower. My brother smiled, and said hang on a second, I will be right back. He when home and got a few tools, took a closer look, and tightened up the carburetor. Literally just two loose bolts, seconds of work, and it started tight up.

The neighbor cussed some more, and said I just gave away my mower. My brother said, nope, he does not want it. The neighbor mowed my brother's yard for fee for years until they sold the house and moved away.

[stevej37]

I just finished up using Gunk foam to clean all the built-up dirt and grease around the carb and intake. Looks good now and all the linkage is smooth and clean. This afternoon I'll change the oil.
Bought it in 1983...should be good for another 40 years.

[HobieMarty]

My Pawpaw had a contraption that he would pull behind his riding mower, it was like a big canvass bag on wheels and had big brushes that rolled along and picked up leaves and deposited them into the bag.
I have a bagger system on my riding mower but I don't use it much as I prefer to mulch up the leaves.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[stevej37]

^^^ This Trac-Vac has an engine that drives a fan to pull the mowing deck discharge up into the cart. The fan is strong enough to pull leaves into the deck from about a foot away from each side of the mowing deck.

The bad part is that the mulched debris is so packed into the cart that it's hard to get it out.
I use a 5 tine pitch fork...but it's a job to just get the fork into the bale of debris to unload it.

[thingmon]

Grease up the floor or visquine? Or walking floor...?

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ This Trac-Vac has an engine that drives a fan to pull the mowing deck discharge up into the cart. The fan is strong enough to pull leaves into the deck from about a foot away from each side of the mowing deck.

The bad part is that the mulched debris is so packed into the cart that it's hard to get it out.
I use a 5 tine pitch fork...but it's a job to just get the fork into the bale of debris to unload it.

Tip it up into the dump position and move forward with the tractor about three feet and it slides right out.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Tip it up into the dump position and move forward with the tractor about three feet and it slides right out.

I have done that (and it works) when it's the first dump on an area. My dump spot is so full that I have to back onto the pile and the bale of leaves won't slide out.
Using a fork...I can get it out.

I need a new dump spot..

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by thingmon

Grease up the floor or visquine? Or walking floor...?

The floor is slippery enough...it's like glass from the years of use.
But the bale of grass and leaves are packed in so tight from the fan...it's like a compactor was used.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ This Trac-Vac has an engine that drives a fan to pull the mowing deck discharge up into the cart. The fan is strong enough to pull leaves into the deck from about a foot away from each side of the mowing deck.

The bad part is that the mulched debris is so packed into the cart that it's hard to get it out.
I use a 5 tine pitch fork...but it's a job to just get the fork into the bale of debris to unload it.

Sounds like it does the job for removing leaves. Glad you got it running.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Scott Douglas]

With the amount of leaves showing in that picture you posted Steve, I can totally understand why you have such a device.
I used to use my Snapper Hi-Vac mower to remove the leaves from our front yard when we had a big tree out on the parkway. I used to hate that tree at first because of the mess it made twice a year. I cried the day they took it out though when it died. I'd come to appreciate how much shade it provided our living room during the summer months. Our street hasn't been the same since it left.

[stevej37]

^^^ It's a fun tool to use. Just drive as fast as you want over the leaves and they are gone.
If they are wet...I have to slow down to mowing speed or the corrugated hose will plug.

If the lawn is covered with leaves...I can fit the 1.3 acres in two cart loads. But two cart loads looks like 5 loads after it's emptied. The longer the grass is when using it...the tighter it gets packed in.

[Tim Hancock]

We used to rake and use a leaf blower for years.... Now I finally convinced my wife that we can just go out hit the bad spots a couple times a week with the zero turn mower during leaf season. Only typically takes about 15 minutes to hit all the areas with trees and turns the leaves into itty bitty little insignificant bits.